Chilli Chicken Wontons with Avocado and Lime Dip

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Prep time:

25 min

Cook time:

15 min

Total time:

40 min

Portion/Yield:

Makes approximately 35 – 40 canape size wontons

Difficulty:

Easy

These little morsels are delicious and incredibly moreish. I make these for canape or drinks parties and you can be guaranteed that they will disappear as soon as they are presented. For that reason I usually calculate about 3/4 per person when planing and making them.

Three times a year I make a special journey to a shop specialising in Asian ingredients. There I find most of the ingredients needed for this recipe. Look for the wonton wrappers in the fresh pasta and noodle department. I buy the fresh wrappers, as I make these wontons to freeze them. Buy the kaffir lime leaves fresh and keep them in the freezer; they work a treat in Thai style curries or fish cakes.

These wontons have a gentle kick of chilli, the avocado and lime dip is refreshing and is a perfect partner to tame the fiery wontons.

Ingredients & Method

For the chilli chicken wontons

250g cooked chicken, flaked

2 whole kaffir lime leaves

1 lime zest and juice

salt and pepper

10g green chilli, de-seeded

1tbs soy sauce

1tbs fish sauce

1tbs chopped chives

1tbs chopped coriander

1 free range egg yolk

35 -40 fresh wonton wrappers

35 -40 whole long fresh chives

For the avocado and lime dip

1 large ripe avocado

1 lime, zest and juice

salt and freshly ground black pepper

50g crème fraîche

First prepare the chilli chicken wontons. Place a third of the cooked chicken in a food processor along with the finely chopped kaffir lime leaves, soy sauce, fish sauce, egg yolk, soy and fish sauce, add seasoning. Pulse blend for a couple of times to break the chicken down slightly.

Hand chop the rest of the cooked chicken, fold in the pulse-blitzed chicken. Add the lime zest, chopped coriander and chives.

Place the long chives in a shallow dish, pour boiling hot water from the kettle over the chives to wilt them, immediately drain the hot liquid off and refresh the chives under cold running water or dunk them in ice water. Drain the chives on kitchen paper.

Lightly dust a clean work surface with corn flour, lay the wonton wrappers out and fill each with a teaspoon full of the chicken mix. Fold the wontons up into little parcels give them a gentle twist to keep them together. Use a wilted chive to tie around the wonton with a double knot, trim with kitchen scissors to shorten the chives. This might be fiddly but it looks fantastic. Make all the wontons, refridgerate until needed.

In the meantime make the avocado dip. Make this just before needed as it will discolour if left overnight. Peel the avocado and remove the seed. Place the avocado in a food processor add the lime juice, crème fraîche, salt and pepper. Blend until smooth, fold in the lime zest.

To cook the wontons, heat the deep fat fryer with oil to 160°C; fry the wontons in batches, until golden brown about 3 – 4 minutes, drain them on kitchen paper. Let the wontons cool slightly before serving with the Avocado and Lime Dip.

Cooks Notes

If you made these chilli chicken wontons for the freezer, freeze them the same day than they were made. Always cook them from frozen, ensure they are cooked well and hot all the way through, about 5 -6 minutes. Break one open and test that they are piping hot in the middle before you serve them. If you are planning for a party, you can deep-fry the wontons earlier the day and then reheat them in the oven at 180°C for 10 – 15 minutes.